Photographed above is General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner (asking $18 billion), Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli (asking $7 billion), and Ford CEO Alan Mulally (asking $8 billion). Just writing out their names makes me angry. I’ve never wanted to bitch slap three men so hard before in my life! They make me sick! And the only thing that would make me feel sicker is if the US government hands them a single penny! I truly think I will vomit if it comes to that. Negotiating talks of yet another bailout/handout? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Who couldn’t see this coming though? As much as I hated the idea of the government bailing out Wall Street, I could understand it. Don’t get me wrong, it still infuriates me that I have to pay for the massive screw up made by greedy bankers and dumb, overindulgent people who signed for subprime mortgages they couldn’t afford. If you are one of the people involved on either side, a banker of foreclosed home owner, I’m happy you are jobless or homeless. It’s what you deserve and you need to learn your lesson, apparently the hard way. You shouldn’t expect the rest of the world to pay for YOUR mistakes in life, but yet that is exactly what it has come to. And thanks to the United States Government, we are sending America exactly that message!
This is becoming the new motto of America. If you’re an American like me, this should make you feel incredibly embarrassed and ashamed. The writing was on the wall. You just knew everyone was going to get in line for a freebie after you signed a check to Wall Street for $700 billion! Hey, why not get in line? Americans no longer have to be held accountable for anything. Just go thru life making a mess and then ask the government to clean it up - brilliant! We no longer even have to point fingers and play the blame game. We just apply a multi-billion dollar Band-Aid and it’s all better, right?
Let’s get some facts straight here. This is NOT a rescue plan and this is NOT a loan. This is a "I don’t want to be held responsible for my own fuck-ups, so here, you fix it for me. Throw money at the problem, money I did not earn nor deserve. Yes, throw money at the problem that I am fully responsible for creating in the first place, but yet I want you to be liable for digging me out of the grave I’ve dug for myself." So because you are an American company, the American auto industry, we "owe" it to you as Americans to help you out? Fuck you. That is by far the most ignorant and blatantly arrogant statement ever! The world does not owe you anything. If anything, you owe the world an apology for selling such shitty cars! I don’t care if you are an American based business or not. Business is business and the name of the game is competition. And if you can’t hang with the big boys, compete and hold your own, get out of the game! It’s as simple as that. If we are going twist some patriotic bullshit into the mix, then how about helping my company out too? How about throwing me a couple billion? I’m an American business and I’m a CEO. Don’t I deserve a handout as well? What about the pizza joint down the block and all the Mom & Pop shops? They should get in line too, right?
I’m sorry, but none of this happened overnight. The crippling housing market, the credit card crunch, banks declaring bankruptcy and the nearly non-existent sales numbers from the American auto industry. Nobody woke up one morning and said..."Uh oh, there’s a problem. Perhaps I should work on finding a solution today before it gets any worse." No, they all left it go. They weren’t proactive. I can say that because if they were proactive, they would have giving the foreign auto manufacturers a run for their money by being stiffer competition. Just look at the statistics if you need proof. Detroit autos are piling up on dealer lots, while foreign cars are snapped up! Honda, BMW and Toyota cars stay on dealership lots for just 20-30 days before being sold. GM, Ford and Chrysler cars stay on dealership lots from 80-120 days, that’s upwards of 4 months before being sold! So while foreign car manufactures are moving their cars in under a month, it takes the American auto industry 4 times as long to sell a car. That says a lot right there! Not to mention that in recent years, Toyota sales have tripled! Wouldn't it be wise to study what Toyota is doing since they are leading the field? They are the #1 competition. There is a reason imports are outselling domestics. They are just better cars. It’s obvious the majority of Americans agree with that statement or else there wouldn’t be more imports than domestics on the road. And have you ever looked up the Blue Book resale value of an import in comparison to a domestic? Imports have always had a much higher resale value. Buying a new car that will hold its value is major selling point for many consumers and that is one of the many reasons why they are choosing cars like the Honda Civic.
So what were the American auto makers doing while sales were slipping? Nothing! They didn’t make the necessary changes needed to be competitive again. Basically, they did nothing to help themselves because that is no longer the American way. The new method of recourse is to let it go to shit, let it fall to the point of no return and then seek emergency help - a US government bailout/handout. The fall of the America auto industry has been ongoing. This occurred over a period of years, a decade or more in some cases. It infuriates me how the big three companies can sit on their hands all that time and then have the nerve to ask for a handout! Not studying your competitors and not making significant improvements to help your business grow and prosper is the recipe for disaster. It is also the #1 reason why GM, Ford and Chrysler are in this predicament. It’s basic economics here. Supply and demand. They continue to spend money making cars that aren’t selling! Am I the only one doesn’t see the logic there? As CEO, you are responsible for where your company’s money is distributed. You have the ability to see where every cent is spent. A smart CEO pays attention to this and adjusts spending habits to help maximize profits. If you fail to understand this basic concept, then you should not be running a company, especially billion dollar businesses like GM, Ford and Chrysler. Basically, you should be fired for your incompetence. Hey, here's an idea I would like to throw out to the GM, Ford and Chrysler CEOs. Don’t make more of something when your current supply isn’t even selling. Even a 5-year-old running a lemonade stand can grasp this concept, but GM, Ford and Chrysler cannot.
Perhaps the reason I feel so strongly about this is because unlike the issue of gay marriage and my rant on Prop 8 being passed, I can truly relate to the corporate world – what it’s like to run a business and more importantly, what your responsibilities are as the CEO. I know what I’m talking about because not only am I a car nut, I’m also the Founder and CEO of my own company. So I understand what it takes to not only survive in business, but also being highly competitive and rise to the top in your field. As the "head guy", sometimes you need to make sacrifices, both financially and personally to better you company. This type of unselfishness clearly isn’t displayed by any of the CEOs from GM, Ford or Chrysler. For evidence of that, look no further than their corporate jets. They flew to the nation's capital in private luxurious jets to plead their case that the American auto industry is running out of cash and needs $33 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy. Interesting. They are whining about going out of business without a bailout, yet that has not stopped them from traveling in style, not even First Class is good enough. And you wonder why I want to bitch slap them? If you are a taxpayer, basically they are slapping you in the face with their total disregard and disrespect to who is being asked to foot their bill. (I do realize they drove one of their own company cars to the next hearing. Oh, how touching. Believe me, had they not been publically ridiculed the first time around for flying via private jet, not a single one of them would have driven. And they probably muttered under their breath the whole way about how they wish they could have taken their prized Benz instead of this American hunk of junk.)
GM CEO Rick Wagoner's private jet trip to Washington cost his ailing company an estimated $20,000 roundtrip. In comparison, seats on Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Washington were going online for $288 coach and $837 first class. Ford CEO Alan Mulally's corporate jet, which he flies home on every weekend, is a perk included for both he and his wife as part of his employment contract along with a $28 million salary. AIG, despite their recent $150 billion bailout, STILL operates a fleet of corporate jets. If the American auto industry receives a government bailout, you can expect the same type of arrogant, selfish behavior to be displayed by their CEOs as well. And while Ford’s CEO had the balls to lay off 51,000 employees, he has yet to give up his jet. Don’t expect any of the big three CEOs to take a pay cut themselves or give up their private jets. That would be crazy talk! I could go on with these disgusting numbers and examples of their outrageous behavior, but you get the idea.
So these CEOs are struggling, huh? Rrright. Struggling is taking the bus instead of your private jet to work. Struggling is trying to survive on a $30,000 factory worker salary as opposed to your near $30 million CEO salary. Struggling is eating Ramen noodles instead of steak and lobster dinners. Actually, struggling is not being able to even afford to eat a pack of Ramen noodles (that was me in college). That is struggling. And that is what it is called sacrifice. Yes, sacrifice. Wagoner, Nardelli and Mulally may want to look up that word in a dictionary because I’m certain they don’t know the meaning of it. If they did understand what sacrifice is and they loved their companies as much as they say they do, then they would start making personal and financial sacrifices to save their beloved businesses. How about start by slashing your salary from $30 million to $1 million (which would still be more than 33 times what your average employee makes)? Or how about selling that corporate jet of yours? That alone would be a savings of about $100 million right there. Just think how many factory jobs you could save then. But that’s right, you don’t give a crap about your workers, because if you did, you would make some small sacrifices of your own before cutting your workforce and asking taxpayers to line your pockets. I understand that $30 million here or $100 million there is a small drop in the bucket when you compare it to the billions of dollars in debt they are. Still, it would be a starting point. And if nothing else, it shows you are willing to do your part to dig out of the mess you created, as opposed to what you are doing now, which is continuing to living large and asking for a handout. Surely you can now understand why many Americans are disgusted.
If I was sitting across from these three CEOs asking to approve their "bailout loan", as they like to refer to it, I think I would handle it car salesman-style. I would nod my head politely, pretending to listen and give a shit what they had to say. Then I would wait for them to finish their argument as to why they feel they should get this deal. With a smile I would reply with..."I’ve taken into consideration all your valid points and I believe we have a deal. Now perhaps our figures are a bit off from one another, but I think you will see what I am proposing is rather fair." I would then jot down the number on a slip of paper and slide it quietly across the table to them. On the paper – a giant $0. Nothing. Nota. Zero. Zip. Zelich. That is what they deserve.
Competition is healthy and losing is a part of life. It can and will happen, that is a guarantee. And the earlier in life you grasp that concept, I feel the easier you will be able to adjust and adapt when life doesn’t go your way and you don’t come out on top. That’s life. You win some. You lose some. Life is intended to be that way to help you appreciate what you have and to help you grow after what you had is lost. You don’t have to like losing, but you do need to accept it, especially when you are the biggest contributing factor to the loss. You need to stumble and fall in life. Sometimes you even need to crash and burn before you learn your lesson. We learn from our mistakes. We grow from them. If we apply a $33 billion Band-Aid and make the problem go away (temporarily), where is the lesson learned? They will either fail to live up to their end of the "going green" agreement or will simply be back in a few months asking for another handout.
If the US government gives them this money, they aren’t saving the American auto industry. They will just be prolonging their inevitable death. Mark my words. And if I’m wrong, then I’ll be the first to eat those words. You have my promise on that. I will apologize and I will admit, you were right and I was wrong. However, I’m willing to bet that won’t ever happen so I have little to worry about. I don’t make a promise I can’t keep and I don’t make a wager unless I’m fully confident I can win.
I’m sorry for those GM, Ford and Chrysler workers who have lost their jobs or are about to lose their jobs. I do feel for you. However in just last month alone, more than half a million people lost their jobs, the most since the 1974, before most of my readers (including myself) were even born! So layoffs aren’t just affecting the American auto industry. And to say the government should "save" those jobs and not fight to save the jobs of people in other fields just isn’t right. Let's be realistic here. Times are tough for everyone as our country is in a recession, but throwing money at the struggling/dying American auto industry isn’t going to stimulate the economy. It does teach irresponsibility though. It does coddle and reward people for making a mess and then asking others to clean it up. What kind of message are we sending if we continue to bail everyone out? It’s time to grow up. It’s time to draw the line. It needs to end here. Please, it’s time to just say no. There are plenty of other car manufacturers to choose from - better, more reliable, longer lasting, more fuel efficient, eco-friendly vehicles available. Nobody is going to be reduced to horse and buggy. If, or rather when, the American auto industry dies off, life will go on.
Related post of interest...
10/1/08 - The Great Depression v2.0
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